Belief in God is not about avoiding some Eternal Hell.
The concept of belief in God as accepting a specific set of "precepts and doctrines of men" that please God and avoid some implausible Eternal Hell is incredibly myopic and misguided, IMO. First of all, it is incredibly self-centered and focused on "What happens to me?" This is exacerbated by the emphasis on rewards and punishments purportedly dispensed by God.
Our savage primitive ancestors needed to be "tamed and civilized." Using anticipation of reward and fear of a wrathful and punishing God worked, but it instilled such a long-lasting fear of God we have failed to outgrow it. It also instilled a deep sense of unworthiness in us ("filthy rags") that colored our relationship with God negatively. The resultant interpreted beliefs about God and His attitude toward us were indelibly corrupted.
The inevitability of this self-centered corruption from the fear of God is why Jesus was always intended to be needed from the foundation of the world. That is why the Birth of Jesus was the "Good tidings of great joy to all people." It is why Abraham was pleased to see His coming (notice the implication that Abraham is not "dead.") No one is. What we call "death" is the Birth of Spirit Jesus tried unsuccessfully to explain to Nicodemus. What we "sow" is not quickened until we "die." (1st Corinthians 15: 35-36)
Before Jesus's "death" as a human Spirit, there was no place in Heaven for Abraham and those who preceded Jesus. They were in a kind of limbo (prison?). Jesus's "born again" human Spirit is identical to God's Holy Spirit and He created a place in Heaven for all "born again" human Spirits as He promised. That is what saved us, NOT His crucifixion. The Cross was His "dying" message that God loves and forgives us no matter what we do in our ignorance, and we need not fear "death." That is why He wanted us to remember Him on the Cross. We managed to screw that up and missed the point completely, IMO.
God is Spirit. We are burgeoning Spirits in physical bodies that demand our full attention. That is our problem. We neglect the development and maturation of our Spirit by focusing on the physical and fear of death. Our Spirits are living to “die” (be “born again” as Spirit).
Our concern should be with maturing our Spirit by enduring this physical existence and overcoming our baser instincts and urges out of the agape love of God and each other as Jesus did perfectly. (The word “perfect” in the Bible i.e., “be perfect as our Father in Heaven” did not mean what it does today. It meant “mature”).
Our inevitable imperfections are compensated for by the perfection (Grace) of Jesus, IMO. None of it depends on believing any specific “precepts and doctrines of men.” We can control our state of mind, but not what we truly believe. It just depends on believing that the mind of Jesus represents God’s Holy Spirit. Our goal is to be “in Christ” (in the mind of Christ) as much as possible in this challenging world.
Philippians 2:5-30 King James Version
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The Holy Spirit IS the True Nature of God revealed, described, and demonstrated unambiguously by Jesus. He IS agape love, kindness, mercy, compassion, gentleness, unconditional acceptance, empathy, sympathy, tolerance, long-suffering, decency, friendliness, peacefulness, joyfulness, understanding, care, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, sensitivity, tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, mercifulness, leniency, lenience, consideration, kindness, humanity, humaneness, kind-heartedness, charity, benevolence, and He is non-judgmental.
Our savage primitive ancestors needed to be "tamed and civilized." Using anticipation of reward and fear of a wrathful and punishing God worked, but it instilled such a long-lasting fear of God we have failed to outgrow it. It also instilled a deep sense of unworthiness in us ("filthy rags") that colored our relationship with God negatively. The resultant interpreted beliefs about God and His attitude toward us were indelibly corrupted.
The inevitability of this self-centered corruption from the fear of God is why Jesus was always intended to be needed from the foundation of the world. That is why the Birth of Jesus was the "Good tidings of great joy to all people." It is why Abraham was pleased to see His coming (notice the implication that Abraham is not "dead.") No one is. What we call "death" is the Birth of Spirit Jesus tried unsuccessfully to explain to Nicodemus. What we "sow" is not quickened until we "die." (1st Corinthians 15: 35-36)
Before Jesus's "death" as a human Spirit, there was no place in Heaven for Abraham and those who preceded Jesus. They were in a kind of limbo (prison?). Jesus's "born again" human Spirit is identical to God's Holy Spirit and He created a place in Heaven for all "born again" human Spirits as He promised. That is what saved us, NOT His crucifixion. The Cross was His "dying" message that God loves and forgives us no matter what we do in our ignorance, and we need not fear "death." That is why He wanted us to remember Him on the Cross. We managed to screw that up and missed the point completely, IMO.
God is Spirit. We are burgeoning Spirits in physical bodies that demand our full attention. That is our problem. We neglect the development and maturation of our Spirit by focusing on the physical and fear of death. Our Spirits are living to “die” (be “born again” as Spirit).
Our concern should be with maturing our Spirit by enduring this physical existence and overcoming our baser instincts and urges out of the agape love of God and each other as Jesus did perfectly. (The word “perfect” in the Bible i.e., “be perfect as our Father in Heaven” did not mean what it does today. It meant “mature”).
Our inevitable imperfections are compensated for by the perfection (Grace) of Jesus, IMO. None of it depends on believing any specific “precepts and doctrines of men.” We can control our state of mind, but not what we truly believe. It just depends on believing that the mind of Jesus represents God’s Holy Spirit. Our goal is to be “in Christ” (in the mind of Christ) as much as possible in this challenging world.
Philippians 2:5-30 King James Version
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The Holy Spirit IS the True Nature of God revealed, described, and demonstrated unambiguously by Jesus. He IS agape love, kindness, mercy, compassion, gentleness, unconditional acceptance, empathy, sympathy, tolerance, long-suffering, decency, friendliness, peacefulness, joyfulness, understanding, care, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, sensitivity, tender-heartedness, soft-heartedness, warm-heartedness, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, mercifulness, leniency, lenience, consideration, kindness, humanity, humaneness, kind-heartedness, charity, benevolence, and He is non-judgmental.
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